Nicomedia

Nicomedia (nĭkōmēˈdēə) [key], ancient city, NW Asia Minor, near the Bosporus, in present-day Turkey. Refounded (264 B.C.) by Nicomedes I of Bithynia to replace Astacus as his capital, it flourished for centuries. The Goths sacked the city in A.D. 258. Diocletian chose it for the eastern imperial capital, but it was soon superseded by Byzantium (Constantinople). The modern city on its site is Izmit.